8 Unforgivable Video Conferencing Mistakes (and how to fix them)

Video Conferences have proven to be an important and versatile tool for business. It can be used for online business meetings, job interviews, product demos, meetings with clients, educational seminars, webinars and so on. But with its advantages, come also some unforgivable video conferencing mistakes.

8 Video Conferencing Mistakes

Here is a list of the 8 most unforgivable mistakes and how to fix or prevent them:

Being late

Although “being late” is one of the most obvious video conferencing mistakes, it still happens a lot and needs to be addressed. As in any business meeting, job interview or presentation, being late for a video conference hurts your credibility. Being there on time shows your coworkers, superiors and clients your respect of their time.

The idea behind an online conference is to save time and not waste it. If you are the host of the conference, go even further, and be there earlier, that will also give you a chance to test your presentation one more time.

Delivering a monologue

Regardless of the purpose of your video call, the key to success is to get everyone engaged. Some might think that it’s better to say everything they have to say, to end things faster and save everyone some time. However, by doing so, you run the risk of losing people’s attention and they probably won’t remember a word you said.

To avoid this video conferencing mistake, allow the other attendees to interact with you, by asking them questions, or getting them to ask you questions. Having a group chat room can also improve the interaction. These simple actions will get everyone engaged with the subject at hand.

Moving too much on camera or doing to many gestures

Too many movements and gestures on camera can be distracting, or even annoying. These movements appear differently on the other side of the screen and can completely ruin your conference.

Instead of shifting in your chair, moving suddenly or using exaggerated gestures, make sure you’re calm and composed while delivering your presentation. This way, the other attendees will understand you better and you’ll seem to be more confident.

Choosing the wrong place

As you probably experienced before, noise can really jeopardize the comprehension of a conference. Even worse, one person can ruin the whole conference for everyone else. To avoid any surprises, it’s better to choose a place where you have control over the environment. Maybe at your house or office. Choose your place wisely or else:

Classic video conferencing mistake:

When choosing a place, it’s also important to keep in mind the “set”. What’s going to be on the background when you are on camera? Be careful not to have too many distractions and check if the lighting is appropriate or if you’ll need to add other lights.

Using the wrong microphone and speakers

If you use your laptop’s mic and speakers or have external equipment but position them poorly, your speakers will create feedback in the video. Which means, the sound that comes out of the speaker goes back to the microphone and people can hear themselves. It can be really distracting.

To avoid video conferencing mistakes like this one, you can use a headset with a microphone. It’s also a solution to have just the earphones and an external microphone. This way the sound won’t get it the way. There are software products, like ManyCam, that have noise reduction and other useful settings. Learn more about ManyCam’s features.

Shouting and dealing with technical difficulties

It’s a very common video conferencing mistake to talk louder or even shout if someone can’t hear us well. We instinctively do that in person and on the phone. Instead, we should look for the problem and fix it, if it’s on your end or help the attendee fix on their end.

Dealing with technical difficulties is a massive challenge, because you cannot let it affect your confidence or delivery. Having someone by your side or participating in the video conference assigned to help you with any technical problems can help a lot.

Not using the right technology

Long gone are the days you had to turn the camera to your computer to show your screen, or move the camera to show different things. Now, you can simply share your screen with the other participants. The cameras are more affordable, so you can have more than one. You can even use your phone as a video source for your conference.

Not being prepared

Preparation is crucial to have a successful video conference. Before your conference, create an outline of everything that will be addressed in a logical order. Getting everyone on the same page before the meeting will make it more objective and effective.

Therefore, don’t forget to inform everyone about the conference agenda in advance, so they know what to expect from the conference.